The Treatment Room: A treatment room is not required to do Reiki, all that is necessary is placing your hands on the body (your’s or the receipent’s); sitting, standing or lying down. If you choose to set up a treatment room here are some guidelines.
Unlike some healing techniques where the energy flows from the healer to the individual, Reiki energy flows from an unlimited source of light energy, in dimensions beyond our understanding, into and through our physical, mental and emotional bodies to the person, place or thing that we direct it to.
With the continued use of Reiki, you may experience altered states of awareness. You may wish to start a Reiki journal about your experiences. Use them, learn from them and bring them out as a basis of new insight. These experiences will seldom be the same twice. We are not the same from minute to minute. It is important to recognize that growth and joy come not in the goal but the journey, and the journey begins now.
There are three degrees, taught traditionally. Some schools teach 4 and some as many as 7 degrees or levels. The following descriptions are one way of describing the 4 levels of Reiki.
First Degree Reiki is the beginning level. The training includes powerful and sacred First Degree activating initiations, information on the history of Reiki, a discussion of the various Reiki associations, and ways of applying this unique science. Specific hand positions covering the head, front and back of the body, and their corresponding physical, mental, emotional and spiritual significance are extensively covered. Instructions are given on how to utilize Reiki with family, friends, plants, animals, food and water. The benefits of using Reiki in a group are discussed and an actual group treatment is experienced.
Second Degree Reiki is available to those who have completed First Degree, have continuously been using it for at least 3 months and want to pursue a higher more powerful level. It includes a powerful, sacred Second Degree initiation, which attunes you to dynamic, multi-dimensional energy keys or symbols. These sacred symbols allow you to access many different levels or dimensions of energy. A discussion of the symbols and their origins as well as their precise usage is given. Specific techniques of absentee healing, personal transformation and healing mental/emotional disorders are also presented.
Third Degree for Personal Mastery is for personal growth, transformation and increased enlightenment. It is available to those students who have been continuously working with Second Degree Reiki for a minimum of 3 months. You will learn how to do attunements which open the recipient to receive greater amounts of Reiki energy. These attunements are not initiatory, but are designed to help you access more energy when giving hands-on or absentee treatments. You will also learn how to make a Energy Grid which brings in more light and love to the planet and sends continuous Reiki treatments as well as a procedure to remove particularly difficult energy blocks.
Master/Teacher Level is for those students who wish to teach Reiki. It is necessary that a minimum of a year of continuous use of Reiki and a prerequisite of Third Degree for Personal Mastery be completed before applying for the Master/Teacher level. This level requires a deep commitment to the integrity of the system and the integration of Reiki as a lifestyle. It gives you the complete science for activating First, Second, Third and Master/ Teacher degrees (including complete teaching notes for each degree). It contains advanced techniques in energy activation, balance, direction and modulation for healing, transformation, integration and inner-illumination. It is not just a step up in energy, it is a way of being. The Master/Teacher level is available only upon request and interview.
Why would a Reiki Master choose to teach more than 3 levels? The answer we have found most often is that there is so much wonderful information to pass on to the Master candidate. Rather than having the Master student apprentice for a year to learn the complete system, some teachers have chosen to add additional levels to the teaching. Specific lengths of time between classes are usually required to allow the energy to incorporate within the person and giving them a set amount of time to practice what they have learned.
There are ranks and levels within the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai's system of Reiho. Ranks are based on the student’s ability to channel the energy and their adeptness or proficiency in performing the techniques. A student will go from proficiency rank 6 (‘the beginning level’ or First Degree) where the student learns hand-on and other Shoden techniques; through fifth and fourth. It is not until the student attains the third proficiency rank that Okuden (or Second Degree) techniques (including symbols and later distance healing) are offered. It can take a student as long as 10 years before Okuden is attained because it is based on the amount of energy channeled and the success rate with clients. In other words the student must have fully mastered the rank before new levels are offered.
Usui Sensei placed himself at Proficiency Rank 2, leaving Rank 1 for someone who would surpass his own ability. This gesture was to encourage his pupils to work hard in all aspects of Reiho, especially spiritual growth. To date no member of the Gakkai has achieved Usui’s level of ability.
There are 4 levels taught in the Gakkai, Shoden (‘beginning teachings’ or First Degree), Okuden Zenki (‘highest or secret level’, first term or Second Degree), Okuden Koeki (‘highest or secret level’, latter term or Personal Mastery) and Shinpiden (‘God’s secret method’ teacher training or Master). At each level additional techniques are given. The Spiritual aspect with techniques for personal growth and enlightenment are taught in all levels of Reiho. Reiho is seen as a method or path to reaching higher levels of Spiritual consciousness with healing being a ‘by-product’ that occurs from connecting to the ‘True-self’. When a student has mastered Okuden Koeki and the collective Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai Shihan feel the student is ready or able, they may vote for the student to receive Shinpiden (teacher training). However it must be noted that currently there are only 5 Shihan in the whole Gakkai. Precisely how a student is chosen to receive training or when Shinpiden is actually taught is not known.
A school of Reiho taught by Kyozou Ogawa offers 6 levels. The highest level available is Okuden Koeki or level 1. When one takes Shinpiden or teacher training they learn to teach the information and techniques, and do the attunements for all 6 levels of Reiho. Following are the levels taught:
There is no area of life that Reiki will not change and effect. It brings healing as a result of raising the vibrations of a being/object closer to that of the original design. It will assist in bringing goals and desires into manifested form. It will work at healing relationships, between people or objects; wherever there is disparity and imbalance, the energy will reinstate order and stability. The energy can be used to heal and balance anything in the past or the present, and Reiki can be sent to any situation that will occur in the future, to insure the best results possible (to be balanced and harmonious). Reiki will bring healing to situations that you may not yet be aware of. When an area of life is healed, the altered energy will bring change to all other areas of your life.
Many times, new Reiki practitioners have been heard to say that life has become more difficult ever since they were attuned to Reiki. The truth is that Reiki has dredged up deep-seated emotional blocks (or physical, mental, spiritual) and you have become more sensitive and aware of these additional issues, and you suddenly have to work a little harder at focusing and balancing the energies.
Every man, woman, and child carries within their cells and DNA the memories of all that has ever happened to them in previous lives, especially the issues that are yet unresolved (karma). We protect ourselves, consciously or unconsciously, from dealing with these issues by armoring; locking these issues into some part of our physical body. Usually this takes place in muscle tissue and joints and can bring the onset of conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis, tumors and many of the diseases that afflict humankind today. Even accidents are often traced to times that our consciousness has shifted and our awareness is no longer on the physical state of affairs, but rather non-consciously turned inward to the deeper emotional feelings of what is bothering us. This caused imbalance on all level of our being, and stresses the body/mind unit.
When stress has accumulated to the point that it affects organs, we have the beginning of the inflammatory (subacute) stage of healing (or as called by most people - illness). The stress (cause) is toxic to the body (effect) and must be cleared (purification) in order for the body to regain balance. When the body detoxes faster than it normally does, the purification triggers a fever to burn away the toxic matter, the lymphatic system becomes overburdened and swollen, the joints ache, and the mind begins to shut down other bodily systems to prevent spreading infection. Sounds like the flu, doesn't it? Most people at this time, would make themselves unavailable to the world, load the physical body with chemical drugs, crawl into bed and remain there until the symptoms lessen. Then they would get out of bed and become active and would experience a "relapse". In reality, what has happened is that the lymphatic system was unable to drain the toxins from the body because movement acts as a pump, eliminating the toxins through the urine, perspiration and respiration. This can not happen if the body is completely still during bed rest. The mind decreases the body's sensitivities, by releasing endorphins (natural pain killers created in the brain), tricking the body into thinking the condition is eliminated. When activity is resumed, the toxins then begin to move through the system and the body is once more made aware that healing is not yet finished. Then comes the second onslaught of drugs and bed rest. All of the medications that are taken into the body to mask the symptom, are also toxic to the body and must be removed themselves, in order for the body to regain energy and balance.
When Reiki is purifying the physical body, flu-like symptoms may be experienced: minor discomforts including achy muscles, fever, headache, sore throat, excessive mucus, coughing, constipation, diarrhea, and other symptoms. As toxins are being released, odors in the urine and feces may change. Pressures or pains throughout the body, tingling, nausea, or spinning sensations may also be felt in the chakras as Reiki opens, cleanses and balances them.
To lessen the effects: spend extra time doing Reiki over back position #3 and over symptomatic areas. Take long walks in country settings; exercise the entire body mildly or do yoga; breathe clean, fresh air deeply into the lungs, and drink lots of pure, fresh water. Eat light nourishing meals which include fresh fruits, vegetables and juices. A cleansing fast would also be beneficial.
As the purification of the emotional body occurs, deeply held emotions may surface for no apparent reason: anger, frustration, grief, fear, sadness and others. These emotions have been repressed or suppressed from earlier times in this lifetime or from past-life experiences. They are being released from the depths of your physical matrix - from the cellular level of body and mind. Do not allow yourself to become emotionally affected by what you are experiencing. Do not place blame on anyone or anything for these feelings. Just experience them as they surface and let them go.
To lessen the effects: Place one hand on your forehead and the other over your navel. Breathe in and visualize beautiful white light coming into your crown chakra, circling throughout your body, and collecting all of the emotional remains; then breathe out forcefully. making a "Bah" sound, while visualizing the emotions blowing out from your solar plexus chakra. Keep this up until you feel calm. Take a long hot bath in dead sea salts, Epsom salts or a combination of 1 pound each of sea salt and baking soda. Soak about 1/2 hour. This will relax you and help to cleanse your emotional body. Don't do this if you happen to be allergic to any of the items recommended.
When purification of the mental body occurs, old thought forms, behavior patterns and/or habits may come to the surface. Addictive desires for food, beverages, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, etc. may increase or resurface. Thoughts of judgement, blame, victimization, abuse, denial, self-destruction, self-pity, etc. may prevail. These issues are being healed on every level of your being, from this lifetime and others. Do not be hard on your self or allow these impulses and thoughts to get the better of you. Acknowledge them, let them go, then change your thoughts willfully to those of a more positive nature.
To lessen the effects: Spend extra time on head positions #1, #2 and #3. Be kind to yourself. Do things that make you feel good; nurture and pamper yourself as you would a friend who was experiencing the same. Repeating positive affirmations, mantras, and listening to your favorite music eases the intensity of the potentially negative effects of the thoughts.
When spiritual purification is in process, your beliefs may be shaken and challenged: beliefs in how the world operates, how relationships should be, about religion, what is important in your life, etc. As this occurs, insights, revelations, and new understanding will become clear; these will be the building blocks of your newly forming and ever-changing spiritual foundation.
To lessen the effects: spend extra time doing Reiki on head position #3, and front #1 & #2. Talk to like-minded people about your experiences, read uplifting spiritual books, listen to motivational tapes, and treat yourself with love and kindness. You are gaining new levels of understanding. During this process, you may feel lonely and perhaps fearful that you are going insane. Know that all is well and this process is perfectly normal. Be at peace. Let go and let God move through you. And continue to do Reiki on yourself; this alone can and will move you through the purification process, bringing you closer to that which you truly are: Divine Spirit experiencing the physical realm of existence through the sensations of a magnificent vehicle - your body.
A person who goes through all levels of Reiki training, over a period of time (usually 2-3 years) will experience this cycle many times. They will come to experience imbalance, disease, illness, whatever condition or name applied, as a detoxification or cleansing. This knowledge added to the ability to channel Reiki energy, will help everyone understand what habits and traits, conditions, thoughts must be changed or eliminated, and as they are, better health will be the result. This is enlightenment!
With this understanding and knowledge, one can teach another, and that one can teach someone else (lineage), and eventually help to shift the perception of humanity; from the thought of illness to that of purification. When all of humankind acts on this knowledge and self-treats any and all conditions as a toxic assault, then disease will no longer be rampant; this is empowerment! Reiki can and will bring on this next stage in the human evolution of consciousness.
For more information about Reiki Ryoho or comments on this web page send:
Email to: adonea@msn.com
Southwestern Usui Reiki Ryoho Association
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